


True Colours

by HellKingCrowley, Michael Fickz (donutmaster)



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: 18 year old drinking cos its in England, AU, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Art School, Asexuality Spectrum, College, F/F, Hate to Love, Love/Hate, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-03
Updated: 2018-04-02
Packaged: 2018-05-18 02:04:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 18,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5893933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HellKingCrowley/pseuds/HellKingCrowley, https://archiveofourown.org/users/donutmaster/pseuds/Michael%20Fickz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hux and Kylo used to be friends, but that was a long time ago back when they were in secondary school and barely pubescent. </p>
<p>In an awful turn of events they find themselves in college together studying Art and having to spend yet another year in one another's company. Things can only go from bad to worse as they are forced to spend more than their fair share of time in one another's presence, collaborating on projects and even going on trips together... But maybe that's just the kick up the ass they both need to communicate over the reason they ever drifted apart in the first place. </p>
<p>And maybe it's the little nudge needed to realise their hate could quite easily turn to love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Another year with this asshole

**Author's Note:**

> So I felt that for once if I was going to do a modern setting school AU of some kind, what better way to write than from what I know at college myself? So here you go, the art college AU that I'm absolutely loving writing.
> 
> Also Seb has insisted I mention him and give him some credit since he sits and squeals at my fanfictions and motivates me and suggests things to me. He also called me a peasant.

Hux stepped into his new college, letting out a heavy sigh of relief to finally be there - the anxiety was gone, he’d turned up on time and ready to do what he loved. Now just to find his class - now he’d been told that he should wait in the reception area and so following that great big sign right in front of him was probably the best bet. It took only a minute or so for the wiry framed boy to find where he was meant to be - the joy of being at college was drained from him though when he saw the group of people all also sitting around reception… There was the group who were all clearly art students; something was always quite obvious and distinctive about those who were ready to get creative but one of those faces stood out in particular. And the bastard hadn’t even noticed him. 

He watched as the black haired boy just sat there, staring at his fucking phone with those fucking obnoxiously huge headphones covering his ears and that stupid  _ stupid _ little smile on his face. He turned back around so he didn’t have to  _ look at him _ , taking in a few deep breaths and trying to calm down,  _ ‘It’s not like you guys will be in the same class, there’s plenty of other people in this college studying art, too many in fact for the odds to be even remotely in favour of us having to spend another fucking year in each other’s presences…’ _ he snapped out of his angry thought train when some twenty-something year old guy with a ‘staff’ badge walked over and instructed all the art students to follow after him to be assigned their classes.

Kylo only looked up when the other students around him started moving and heading off in the same direction, he frantically grabbed for his bag and stood up straight - only to freeze for a second as he saw the back of a certain ginger’s head just ahead of him. His already pale face became even paler as in the back of his mind he knew  _ exactly _ who that fucker was… but at the same time the rational part of his brain tried to convince him that  _ ‘no, no this couldn’t possibly be the ginger he’d been fighting with for the past seven years of his life.’ _

Alas. When they finally got to the great big hall where they were to be sorted, Kylo saw the boy turn around and it was none other than Brendol Hux. The pretentious bastard he had  _ never _ wanted to see again. And then he listened as names were called out and people were sorted into groups and he began to internally swear as  _ both _ of their names were called out. No… No, this was  _ not  _ happening.

  
  
* 

 

Hux had been on edge ever since seeing Ren this morning - and having been sorted into the same tutor group as him he was now even  _ more _ agitated. This was like some weird nightmare and he was honestly hoping it would turn out to be  _ just that _ and he would wake up, go to college and everything would be fucking perfect and roses.

Things got even worse when the whole class steadily filtered into the room one by one - and most of the seats were taken  _ very _ quickly by those who already knew one another, leaving very few free for him to sit in that would keep him away from Kylo. He let out a small squeak of delight that luckily no one else heard when he spotted an empty seat across the room, darting straight for it and glancing back at Kylo who was several places back in what was left of the line of art nerds waiting to find seats.   
  
And then the unthinkable happened. When Kylo did enter the room, Hux realised that there was an empty seat  _ behind _ him.   


  
*

  
The two boys managed to blank and ignore each other for those first two hours of class while their new tutor explained their expectations for the class and what the class should expect from them - it was when it hit the morning break that the two finally found themselves facing each other, ready to leave class. But they had unfinished business. And neither could find it in themselves to leave well enough alone.

At first they just faced each other in silence, Hux pulling his trenchcoat around his shoulders and staring Kylo down while the other just pulled his bag onto his shoulders slowly, the rage almost  _ visibly _ building up inside him as he waited to see if Hux would say the first word until he finally burst.   
  
“DID YOU COME HERE ON PURPOSE JUST TO PISS ME OFF?!”   
  
Hux scoffed to himself and rolled his eyes in the most dramatic way that he possibly could. “As if,” before turning around and just walking away.    
  
Kylo was seething as he stood there staring after him, going slowly red in the face until he felt the lightest of taps on his shoulder and turned to see a much shorter guy giving him a small smile that gave him the urge to actually smile back.   
  
“Dude, calm down, he’s just a dickhead right?” the kid said softly - Kylo judged that he was probably only a year or two younger than him despite the baby face and big eyes, a whole look that did not match up with the way he’d just spoken.   
  
“I guess,” Kylo replied, letting out a heavy sigh and starting to make his way towards the door, smiling a little as Finn followed close at his heels. “What’s your name?”   
  
“I’m Finn, what’s yours?”   
  
“Kylo.”   
  
“It’s nice to meet you Kylo- is it cool if I spend break with you? I don’t exactly know anyone here and we are sorta sat next to each other at least for today…”   
  
“Sure Finn. That’d be cool. I don’t really know anyone else here either.”   
  
“You know tall ginger and stupid though.”   
  
Kylo laughed properly for the first time in a while… he would have to remember that one.

 

*

 

Hux had found a table and sat on his own for break, but no sooner had he pulled a book out of his bag than the tallest girl he’d ever seen sat on the other side of the table. “Can I help you?” he asked, raising his eyes to meet hers as he attempted a polite smile.   
  
“No, but I’ve been sat next to you for the last two hours and wanted to know what’s going on with you and pretty boy staring evils at each other,” peroxide girl said with a small smirk before holding her hand out, “Phasma.”   
  
“Hux. And nothing. We just hate each other.” He was blunt in his reply but didn't see why any of what had happened between himself and Kylo was any of her business, still, he shook her hand and then dropped it fairly quickly. He disliked physical contact with people he knew, so he was very uncomfortable when it came to strangers.   
  
“Mhmm. So what’s your beef?” Phasma was curious and honestly her curiosity always got the better of her.    
  
“We just… we’ve not gotten along for a long time, he was the last person I expected to see when I got here and… now I have to spend even more time in his presence.”   
  
“Yeah well we all have to spend time with people we don’t like.”   
  
“Not usually seven years of time though.” Hux’s lips twitched up in the hint of a smile.   
  
“Touche,” she replied with a chuckle before taking a bite out of her sandwich, “so what kind of art are you into?”   
  
“Well I quite like textiles based work but… fashion as a subject is too confining for my creative needs so I figure I can take things down a fine art based route.”   
  
“Sounds good. I’m more into applied arts, especially metalworking, jewellery isn’t at the top of my list of things to make, I like armour and swords better but there aren’t exactly many places offering blacksmithing courses.”   
  
“Yeah, that’s true, I think I wouldn’t mind dabbling in a little smithing myself,” he replied softly, taking a sip of his coke, “We get to go ‘round and try that stuff out right?”   
  
“Yeah for the next few weeks… I get the feeling it’s gonna be a bit of a ball ache but y’know… you gotta do things you don’t want in life,” she replied with a shrug.

Hux decided he liked Phasma. She was easy enough to talk to and her lack of shyness made for easy conversation.

 

*

 

When they got back to class Hux and Phasma were discussing the morals of Peter Pan as a story, how they’d gotten onto such a conversation topic they weren’t even sure anymore but it was a shared interest and that was always good when one was trying to make friends. However their enthusiastic conversation was cut short by a drawling comment from Kylo.   
  
“Hey Huxy, who’s your girlfriend.”   
  
“You know, I thought you would’ve worked out a long time ago that I’m not  _ into  _ girls.”   
  
“Well fuck me then.”   
  
“Take me for dinner first, dick.”

Kylo blushed and rolled his eyes before he turned away a little dramatically and Finn began talking his ear off about some comic books he’d been reading earlier on. 

“That was rude,” Phasma muttered, glaring at the back of Kylo’s head with a distasteful look on her face before she turned back to Hux.   
  
“I don’t think I like him,” she hissed quietly.   
  
“Welcome to my world,” Hux replied with a heavy sigh as he pulled out some materials and began a quick sketch of Phasma’s profile while they waited for Maz their tutor to organise herself and start the lesson.

Meanwhile behind them Kylo and Finn were exchanging their conversation using sticky notes and doodles that took each of them a few seconds to decipher - eventually Finn grew bored of the game since Kylo’s messages tended to be too cryptic and had to decipher and the tall boy had to explain what he was trying to say under his breath anyway.

“So why’d you choose art?” Finn asked quietly, leaning very close to Kylo… in such a way that it looked like they were holding some sort of a secret meeting in their little corner of the classroom.   
  
“It gives me a healthy outlet for expressing my thoughts and feelings without causing harm or damage to anything.”   
  
“So basically you like it because you can break shit and call it art?”   
  
“...Not quite.”

“Whatever.”   
  
“So what made you choose art?”   
  
“I actually always really liked sewing and knitting and my dad always made fun of me- but then my brother took me to this gallery where there were all these textile based pieces and it got me really excited and… I dunno I just wanna make art using fabric and sewing and everything-” Finn was cut off from his excited babbling when Maz gathered herself and began getting the classes attention to begin the lesson that was now running ten minutes late...   
  
  


*

 

At lunch, Hux and Phasma found themselves a table very quickly. He was already prepared for her to begin bombarding him with questions about Kylo; the eighteen year old had watched her twitch and cast angry looks at the seemingly ignorant boy. The tall, blonde woman took a quick look around the lunch room before leaving close and practically hissing at him, “what is that boy's problem?”

“I honestly couldn't tell you and I’ve known him for a stupid amount of time now,” Hux replied rather boredly, resting his cheek in his hand as he sat opposite her.

“He called me your  _ girlfriend  _ \- do I need to start wearing a T-shirt that says ‘hi I'm gay’ or something?”

Hux just shrugged and muttered, “his gaydar is just really broke I guess,” before raising his hand with a little enthusiasm. “High five, we can be the gay crew.”

Phasma laughed and slapped his hand before muttering, “you do realise most of the art department students are already ‘the gay crew’ right Hux?”

“Shush! We were having a moment don't ruin it!!!” he replied, raising his voice a little more and looking slightly happier as she just giggle a little and punched him gently in the shoulder. “You know Phas’... I can see you and I becoming good friends during this course.”   
  
“Mmm… me too Hux. Have you heard about that Paris trip being planned?”   
  
“I read something about it on the information sheet I got for the course - why?”   
  
“How much do you bet they’re gonna make us stay in same sex rooms with people?” she asked with a small smirk, it took a few seconds for him to realising what she was getting on to.   
  
“It depends on how intune the college staff is with the prevalent gayness in the art department.”   
  
“True… there’s this one cute girl who I met last year so you won’t know her… but I’m kind of hoping I get to share with her.”   
  
“Making plans already are we?” he asked with raised eyebrows before leaning across the table curiously with his arms folded in front of him, “you take her on any dates?”   
  
“I plucked up the courage in the first few weeks of college during my second year - she’s a drama student, your age I think… we went on quite a few dates… did a bit more too,” she added, unable to help chewing her lip as she smiled at the memories.   
  
“Nice to know,” he replied with a small snigger before pausing a moment and leaning back again. “How old are you Phas’?”

“Twenty.”   
  
“Oh right… how come you didn’t-”   
  
“Do the course sooner? I figured I could just leave school at sixteen and find work. Didn’t work too well though. Bit of a stupid move really because now I have to pay for this course instead of getting to do it for free,” she said with the heaviest of sighs, “Luckily my dad is not a homophobe and is well off enough that he can help me out with the payments. I don’t know how I’d get through it otherwise.”

“That’s good then,” Hux said with a small nod before grabbing his drink from his bag and starting to sip at it as he wondered how he would’ve coped if he’d taken a gap year and had to pay for this whole thing… Paying for a course where he had to see Kylo Ren every day would’ve been out of the question though.


	2. The hate awakens...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kylo and Hux are paired together on a collaborative project and things can only go wrong...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo I'm having a lot of fun writing this fic and have an ending in mind.

It was the day that Hux and Kylo were late to college that royally fucked them both over for a few weeks. Hux’s bus had been running late while Kylo had decided to pop for a coffee before college since he’d pulled an allnighter on a piece of work the night before. The two stumbled into the classroom at about the same time and gained stares from just about everyone else there, the taller of the two looked like a bedraggled corpse and the shorter had a panicked look about him due to his lateness. Hux was  _ never _ late.   
  
When the two stumbled in, Finn and Phasma had already paired up for the current project that they were all being briefed on, and the two of them gave each other very suggestive looks the moment that the hateful pair appeared in the doorway. Phasma leaned to the side, her eyes still on them as she whispered out the side of her mouth, “either this is an awful coincidence or they banged last night and nobody can convince me otherwise.”

“I wanna say it’s the second one but that might just be hopeful thinking,” Finn replied with a small snigger.   
  
“Brendol, Kylo, so nice of you to join us - I don’t think there’s anyone else left now so you two will have to work together on the collaborative project we’re just about to start. You’ve not missed too much so just find your work spaces,” their teacher said with a wide friendly smile - neither of them could really find it in themselves to complain to the very small, adorable old lady so they just nodded their tired heads and found an empty desk to work at.

When they were sat down, Kylo glanced around for a second before reaching out and grabbing one of the bins in the room. He dragged it towards them both and and scooted his chair away from Hux’s. The ginger watched in bewilderment, brow furrowed and eyes just slowly following the path of the bin.   
  
“What the fuck are you doing Kylo?” he hissed when he finally decided he could not come up with any sane reason for the boy to be dragging a bin towards them.   
  
“The trash is going between us-”   
  
“Stop being such a fucking child.”   
  
“One of us always ends up hurt if we are in close proximity to each other.”   
  
“Oh. My. God. You dick,” Hux scoffed with the most exaggerated eye roll he’d ever managed.   
  
“Shut up.”   
  
“Can you boys please quiet down while I finish the briefing for the class.”   
  
“Sorry Maz,” they replied in unison before continuing hating each other in silence.

  
  
*

  
  
“So… we have to work together… on this damn project,  _ for two weeks _ ,” Kylo muttered, clenching his fists against the desk while Hux tried to push the bin away from them both without emo-boy noticing.    
  
“Yeah, that’s pretty much it,” he replied, “So, we need to find some common ground or something to work with - I mean she said we’ve gotten be passionate about this. I don’t see why we can’t fuel this project's motivation with our  _ hatred _ for one another.”   
  
“Good plan Huxy.”   
  
“Please do not call me that.”   
  
“Why not?”   
  
“Because I don’t like it.”   
  
“See if we’re gonna do a project fuelled by hate then me calling you Huxy is gonna help, we’ve just gotta live with that.”   
  
“You are such a dickhead.”   
  
“You love me for it though.”   
  
“I may be gay but I’m not fucking desperate thanks,” Hux replied, just kicking the bin away and watching it slide across the room while Kylo began pouting after it.   
  
“Have you ever even had a boyfriend?”   
  
“That is none of your business.”   
  
“But  _ have you _ ?” Kylo replied, leaning well into Hux’s comfort zone and knowing exactly how much he was pissing him off.   
  
“I…”   
  
“Probably not then. Or you’ve had some posh suitors but none of them ever quite qualified as  _ boyfriends _ .”   
  
“Just shut up. Why do you even want to know.”   
  
“Just curious,” Kylo replied with a small shit eating grin.

 

*

 

Kylo let out a heavy sigh as he got into English class, it was all his fucking fault he was in there, he could’ve totally passed the exam but he chose that fucking day to just not bother coming in. And now he’d have to spend the next year paying for it via extra English lessons. It didn’t help he would also be redoing all of his maths too because he’d gone to a party the night before that.   
  
He was rather surprised though, when he was sat in English and Hux of all people appeared, “Didn’t you pass posh boy?”   
  
“I didn’t and it’s none of your business,” he replied, turning his back to Kylo and finding a chair away from him. He tried to forget the panic attack that he’d had on the day of the English exam, not one of his proudest moments, but that style of exam just didn’t sit well with him. He was glad for the lack of exams in art- and his decrease in attacks of that kind. They rarely happened since he started college and honestly it was the biggest blessing he could ever have wished for.

“Fine then - you got your books ready for this stupid English class?”   
  
“Yes…”   
  
“You looking forward to reading Shakespeare?”   
  
“Honestly, since it’s not Romeo and Juliet I’m quite happy because I’m sick of everyone taking that piece of bullshit as a serious romance. Like no. Please.”   
  
“Can you keep that attitude for when we get back to our art project please?”

“Maybe,” Hux replied with a small smirk, amused and yet unsettled by how friendly and nice Kylo was being for the moment… it was…  _ strange _ . And still he found he liked it.   
  


*

 

When Hux arrived in class the following day it was to find Kylo with his feet resting up on their desk and pictures of his own face with red paint over them pinned up everywhere, “I am literally five minutes late.”   
  
“I was twenty minutes early.”   
  
“You are a fucking dick.”   
  
“So why don’t you love me? I hear that’s what all the gay guys are into. Y’know.  _ Dick. _ ”

Hux swallowed his comeback and bit down on his tongue so as not to let this conversation get out of hand and end in someone having a broken nose. Instead he dumped his bag on the floor, grabbed Kylo’s feet to move them before sitting down and pushing everything out of his way to start working.   
  
“You’re no fun,” Kylo whined after a few minutes of silence from the other boy, nudging him in the shoulder with his foot before rocking backwards a little and staring up at the ceiling while Hux continued to blank him. “Pay attention to me,  _ I’m bored _ .”   
  
Hux was going to open his mouth and say “no” but then decided that he would not give Kylo the pleasure of getting a response and instead clamped his lips shut and continued with his sketches… until Maz appeared.

“Sorry I’m late class! We were having a quick meeting up in the staff room except it wasn’t quite as quick as we were expecting- now. Today we’re popping over to the ceramics classroom where I would like you all to make some pieces…” Hux was barely listening as Maz continued on about the class for the day, too distracted by Kylo’s impertinent behaviour that morning. Why was the boy being so rude? He wanted to say it was all because of their  _ stupid  _ project but at the same time part of him couldn't help but wonder if it might be something else.

 

*

  
  
Hux wished that he had paid attention before in class as he found himself being addressed by a totally unfamiliar teacher that the other students seemed to know the name of. It was a little hard to follow what he was saying as he showed them how to use the clay - the boy was sure he didn’t really need this demonstration, it was like playdough right?

When he found himself working with the material he realised that, no, it was not glorified brown playdough. It was an altogether different substance that if he were not careful would dry and begin to crack as he worked it rather than remaining squishy and smooth.

  
He wasn’t surprised when the teacher came over and he ended up being berated and having to admit that he’d not listened properly. But he was still upset - there was a tightness in his chest that wound up and up as the man continued to talk in the calmest yet most insulting voice that the boy had ever heard and it broke every little thing in him as he continued...

  
  
*

  
  
Hux stumbled into the bathroom and frantically grabbed as much toilet paper as he could to mop up his face as the tears he’d been hiding burst out and his cheeks began to burn and his throat swelled and felt like it had some ridiculous tennis ball stuffed down it.  He silently berated himself while he choked on tears, there was no need for him to have reacted the way he did to the piece of criticism that had just come out of that shitface of a teacher’s mouth but… he didn’t know. He just wasn’t having a good day or feeling particularly good and it had fucked him up a little bit.   
  
He panicked a little when he heard the main door to the bathroom swing open and closed with a loud ‘bang’. Now was not the fucking time for someone to be coming in here. Why couldn’t they hold it? Why did they have to come here? Who even fucking peed during college time anyway?   
  
“Wow your hair is so fucking perfect AGAIN!” Kylo exclaimed rather sarcastically from behind him before actually looking at Brendol  _ properly _ and realising he was shaking.   
  
“Fuck off,” came a very quiet, shaky whisper from Hux while the slightly taller boy just stood there and tried to work out what the hell to do… He wasn’t going to do as he was told. But making a sassy remark didn’t seem like a good idea. And there was no way he was going to try and comfort the asshole who had broken his arm last year on sports day.   
  
“Why are you crying?” he asked rather bluntly, his voice lacking much emotion of any kind… but it wasn’t  _ taunting _ which confused Hux a little bit.   
  
“None of your fucking business,” he replied, chucking the tissue in the bin before going to the sinks and splashing his face with water, trying to ignore the dark haired boy who was watching him with intrigue now.   
  
“You didn’t even cry when we were fighting on the sports field in the mud, so I’m curious how anything has made you cry.”   
  
“Just… stop asking,” he replied a little brokenly.   
  
“Whatever, be like that then.”


	3. How about you beg for mercy...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We find out what happened on sports day two years ago and also how the collaborative 'hate project' is going for Kylo and Hux...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a lot of fun writing this, especially the sports day thing, also spent a lot of time listening to a song that will be more heavily referenced later in the fic...

**[Flashback to sports day]**

 

Hux stood staring at himself in the changing room mirror. This was it. His final sports day and then he’d never have another - he’d always thought it a stupid competition for school yet at the same time he had a need to win this. If he could just get this one final victory then he’d be triumphant… he’d have beaten Kylo once and for all. He took in a few slow breaths to make sure he was calm and collected before he did his stretches and went out there to prove himself. He was surprised he’d been the first into the locker rooms but at the same time everyone else was probably too lazy to prepare themselves properly for the event.

It was with bated breath that Hux and Kylo stood on the start line - they weren’t the only two there but the way they glared across at each other in some kind of  _ challenge _ , it may as well just be them. It seemed like a long time before the whistle blew to signal the start of the 400 metre race, when it did go though, everyone shot off like bullets. It quickly became clear who was actually competing and who’d been picked out because nobody in their class would volunteer and though the sprint was short Kylo, Hux and some other classmate who they’d never learned the name of found themselves at the front.

Nobody was ever quite sure what happened, whether Hux or Kylo took their eyes off the target to check if they were ahead, or whether one of them purposely tripped the other or it was an accident… Whatever happened though they fell to the ground in a pile with the third person sprinting off ahead of them still. 

One thing was for sure though and that was that the two on the floor in the mud were angry - so angry in fact that within a split second of them falling to the ground they had begun wrestling each other in the mud, screams and grunts escaping them as they swore and beat each other on the floor, hands and knees slipping as they tried to get a grip on the other and make them submit like ten year olds having a scrap - except here there was now blood and nails and a shriek as a few strands of Hux’s long, ginger locks were torn out. Rather than intervening, everyone was too shocked to actually move while Hux managed to flip Kylo onto his front and straddle his back. He grabbed the back of his hair and slammed his face down against the floor, hearing a crack that he figured must be his nose - surprised though that  _ Ren _ barely let out anything more than a painted grunt in response.   
  
Hux pulled on Kylo’s hair, bringing his head back at an unnatural angle that looked painful, yet the boy didn’t even cry out. “BEG FOR MERCY!” he yelled into his ear. Kylo turned his head to the side, smirking up at the other boy before spitting out a mouthful of blood and  _ somehow _ moving just enough that Hux’s knee slipped and he could get out from underneath him.   
  
“How about you beg for mercy,” Kylo spat as he grabbed Hux by the arm and dragged him over rather violently.   
  
“Never!” Hux yelled before he was shoved face first into the mud and his arm was yanked behind his back .   
  
“Do it!”   
  
“NO!” Hux yelled, only to let out a scream that shattered the trance all the onlookers seemed to be in as Kylo bent his arm further back and he tried to fight against him - resulting in the damn bones breaking.

It all happened a little fast as Kylo let go and teachers rushed forward to check on Hux’s condition while other dragged the dark haired boy away to be disciplined for his actions… and that had been the last time they’d seen each other before college. Hux lying in the mud trying to hold back the tears in his eyes while Kylo was actually _ compliant _ to being pulled away..

  
  


*

 

**[The Hate Project]**

 

Kylo got into college with a big fat smug grin on his face as he placed a folder down on his and Hux’s table. The ginger raised an eyebrow before his whole face dropped at the sight of what was inside.  
  
“Where the fuck did you get that picture?”  
  
“I spent last night stalking your facebook to see if your mum had ever posted any pictures of you as a kid, _and I_ _struck gold._ ”

“ _ You are the devil incarnate _ .”   
  
“You love me really,” Kylo replied before blowing a raspberry at the other student and beginning to set up a drawing board.   
  
“What  _ are  _ you doing?”   
  
“I’m going to paint baby Hux for my part of the collaboration.”

Hux just stared, open-mouthed at the dark-haired boy with absolute, unadulterated hate in his eyes. After a few minutes of glaring he turned his back on him and went about starting to produce his own piece of work, just scrawling every curse he could ever think of to lay on Kylo all over a piece of paper in red ink.

When Hux turned around he saw the ink drawing of himself nearing completion and threw his paintbrush down onto the table top before throwing the whole cup of ink over Kylo’s A1 sized drawing. His look of rage turned into a smile  of delight as Kylo just froze into a rigid stance. He watched Kylo’s hands flex a little before he turned around and practically flung himself at Hux - except rather than the tackle that he’d been expecting; the ginger found himself wrapped up in a hug. And his rage quickly returned.   
  
“THIS IS WHAT THE PROJECT’S ALL ABOUT!” Kylo cried out excitedly as he held onto him while Hux just turned nearly as red as the ink he’d been using before giving him a hard shove to get away. Emo-boy did not move and so Hux resigned himself to his fate until he was released from this piece of unwanted physical contact.

Kylo knew from the way that Hux tensed up the moment he hugged him that the guy was pissed off and uncomfortable. And this was exactly what they needed to fuel the project further. The more Hux hated him the more perfectly this would work as long as he didn’t push the guy too far over the edge in the process, so much so that he refused to work with him. 

“When are you going to let go?” Hux asked, his skin starting to feel like it was crawling.   
  
“When you tell me what you’re going to do next for this project.”

“Um…” Hux trailed off before starting to try and wriggle away from Kylo’s grasp, eventually looking over at Phasma pleadingly. She just laughed and carried on plotting in her little corner with Finn. “I was going to get some spray paint over lunch and do some graffiti work on hardboard…”   
  
“THAT’S MY BOY,” Kylo replied, giving him a harder-than-necessary slap on the back before letting go and going back to admire what Hux had done to his own drawing, “You can really feel the hatred coming from this piece.” 

When Hux was sure he was not about to be accosted by the boy again he slowly made his way over to Phasma instead and whispered, “Help meee….”

“It’s not my fault you ended up partnered with him - anyway, I think working together could do you two some good and I think Kylo has a  _ great  _ vision for this project. You do realise he’s working you up for the whole purpose of making this thing work, right?”   
  
Hux pursed his lips and stared at her for a long moment, not wanting to admit that she was probably right about Kylo’s intent and that he should have realised it sooner. Because that boy would never hug him in his right mind, they hadn’t been friends in years and that wasn’t going to change because he fucking threw ink onto his drawing.

  
  
*

  
  
For the rest of the period, Hux sat creating a stencil that he refused to let Kylo see, he’d managed to squeeze into Poe’s workspace, the kid had taken pity on him and moved over for him since he table was ‘big enough for two’ as he put it.

When he was done with it he hid the whole thing in the storage cupboard before running off into town to find a DIY store to get some spray paints from. He felt like falling to his knees when he  _ did  _ find what he was looking for. The range of colours and spray types were  _ amazing  _ and nearly brought tears to his eyes. It was honestly one of the most beautiful things that his little art student heart could imagine seeing and it had made his  _ year _ .

When he got back to class he felt like the  _ king  _ of the art room, and Kylo was most definitely perplexed by the boy’s sudden change in attitude. That and the evil glint that seemed to have totally taken over his beautiful blue eyes. Then Kylo had to remember he was  _ not _ supposed to think that Hux was beautiful or really even be looking into his eyes in the first place. Hux took a huge piece of hardboard outside with him and leant it up against the wall before getting to work. 

When he was done he’d created a caricature of Kylo with the words “Kylo Sucks” sprayed in red across it. He’d been far less neat with the stencilling and sprayed the paint heavily to make sure that it dripped as much as possible without becoming too much.   
  
The piece was perfect and he was honestly half tempted to kiss it when he was done - but the idea of kissing something with Kylo’s face on and the fact it would leave him with spray paint on his lips put him off a little.

Hux marched back into the classroom with a shit eating grin spread over his face - even when he saw the ‘gestural’ drawings Kylo appeared to have done of him based on photos. “I made art, come feast your eyes upon it.”

When Kylo came out he made sure to keep himself calm and collected, he did not want to react in any way to what he saw when he got out there - and so he didn’t. He looked at Hux’s creation for a long hard minute, trying to decide how best to react to piss the ginger off. It only took a few seconds when he glanced at the guy and looked him over, “Well done, this is beautiful,” he said before reaching up and  _ ruffling _ his hair.   
  
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” Hux screeched, leaping away from the contact and trying to fix his hair quickly.   
  
“Nothing - it’s much easier to fix now it’s short isn’t it?”

“What do you mean now it’s short?” Phasma asked from the doorway, having come out to see what on earth was going on outside between the two of them - secretly hoping they were making out and finding herself sorely disappointed.   
  
“I used to have long hair…” Hux mumbled under his breath with his eyes averted to the ground.

“He used to have wonderful long hair!” Kylo replied, whipping his phone out and showing it to Phasma.   
  
“He… he did…” she muttered, leaning closer to the phone, “HUX WHY DID YOU CHOP IT ALL OFF?”

“WHY DOES HE HAVE PICTURES OF ME ON HIS PHONE?”

“Don’t get your hopes up, they were for the project,” Kylo replied with a quirk of his eyebrow trying to hide the soft flush that  _ had  _ appeared on his face.   
  
“You didn't’ answer my question,” the woman said, tapping her foot now as she stood there with her arms folded.   
  
“Because I pulled some of his precious hair out,” the dark haired boy finally admitted.  
  
“Kinky,” Phasma said before looking down at her watch, “It’s lunch time, we’d better get going Hux, c’mon.”


	4. Not what I expected.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kylo and Hux are on at each other as per usual before Phasma and Rey get to take the spotlight for a little while and go on a date...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long I've had college deadlines and then my muse and co-writer has had mock exams himself.

Hux arrived late to English and was surprised to find that everyone had taken up different seats to usual, leaving him with the one right behind Kylo Ren… At first this seemed like a horrible way for things to be going but then he realised that he could irritate the boy horrendously and have him unable to retaliate without people seeing.

Hux had promised that this year he’d actually put effort into his English classes but… well… he could have fun this one lesson.

All it took were a few kicks and nudges and Kylo had tried to turn on Hux and pin him to his desk but their teacher yelled before he could and sent the boy out of the classroom for the rest of the lesson…

When the ginger did eventually step out of the classroom, Kylo was there waiting for him and it took only a matter of seconds for him to get him into an empty classroom and pinned up against the wall.  
  
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Hux sneered, refusing to flinch as Kylo slammed a fist into the wall beside his head.   
  
“Me? What do I think I’m doing? What the fuck did you think you were doing back there in class? You’re a complete and utter ginger twat!”

“I take great offence at being called that.”  
  
“You are such a fucking prick Hux, why haven’t you fucking bothered moving classes or something yet? Why’d you have to fail fucking English and be in a class with me for extra days a week.”   
  
“You see, I could ask you those same questions,” he shot back, watching the rage rise in Kylo as his face turned a nasty red shade in his anger.

“You’re such a fucking dick.”

“You love me really,” Hux replied, quirking an eyebrow and looking down at Kylo’s lips for a second to make a point of both the fact that he was _fucking close_ and that the whole vibe of this was coming across very sexually right now as the dark haired boy kept him pinned up against the wall, bearing down on him.

“Fuck off.”

“Make me.”  
  
Hux was slightly surprised and also a little disappointed when he was left standing there by Kylo who was already out the door by the time he registered he’d even moved away...

 

*

 

Hux turned up in the refectory with a smug grin spread over his face - unable to wait to see Phasma and tell her all about the shit he’d been getting up to that morning; but he had to stop in his tracks when he saw the woman sat at a table with another girl. The blonde looked awfully coy compared to usual, there was even something _bashful_ about her. While the teen with a bunch of messy buns piled on top of her head just picked up chips and ate them in between words. This was unusual. Still. If she had a date, who was Hux to interrupt?

Phasma was sat facing Rey when she had a thought and it sprung into a smile on her face, “Hey Rey… you’ve got no lessons this afternoon, right?”  
  
“Yeah, I’m meant to be working on coursework but fuck that…”   
  
“How about we go somewhere… on a proper date... not like in the canteen eating crap food.”   
  
“Oh a real date with Phasma, I should be honoured,” the girl replied, quirking her eyebrow a little.

“Shush you… you’re the closest anyone’s ever come anyway… But yeah… there’s this sushi bar I’ve been wanting to check out…”  
  
“Yes.”   
  
“You didn’t let me fi-”   
  
“Yes. Sushi bar. Now.”

“Can I just…” Phasma pointed at the bag of crisps she’d been eating and Rey let out an over dramatic sigh before nodding and waiting for the woman to finish.

When she finally finished with her food, Rey got up and ordered her to lead the way to the sushi bar or wherever it was that Phasma had in mind.

“Keep ordering me around like that and I’ll take you for sushi any time,” Phasma said with a chuckle before grabbing a hold of Rey’s wrist and starting to lead them out of college.  
  
“Please let go,” the girl said, yanking her arm away before blushing a little. “I… don’t like hand holding and stuff and… let’s not talk about it, let’s just go to the food place.”

It didn't take long for the pair of them to reach the sushi bar Phasma had in mind, it was surprisingly quiet to say it was lunch time across at the college - then again most of the students would probably rather go to a fast food restaurant instead. It made for a nice date setting though.

“So… you wanna take a look at the menu?” Phasma asked, smiling up at the waiter who came to seat them.  
  
“Um… sure, but I’ll probably just pick something at random anyway, I’m not exactly used to sushi…”   
  
“We could always order a platter?”

“We could do that, go ahead, you pick,” Rey replied with a bubbly smile as she pushed the menu towards Phasma for her to read. The blonde just laughed a little, nodding her head slightly and saying a quick ‘thank you’ before scanning over the menu and just picking one at random.

The two ended up back at Phasma’s apartment after the meal - and it wasn’t for a cuddle and a little time chilling together. No. Rey had rapidly come down with what could only be described as the worst case of food poisoning Phasma had ever seen. The drama student had come stumbling into Phasma’s classroom about half an hour into the lesson after lunch looking rather peaky and feeble. In the end due to the student’s long bus ride to get home, the older art student offered to let her come over to hers and sleep this off before excusing herself from lessons for the day and getting Rey somewhere she could puke in peace.

“I am so sorry…” Phasma whispered as she held back Rey’s hair and tried to pull all the loose ends up so she could tie and pin everything back and free her hands to go get fresh water for her instead.  
  
“It’s not your fault…” Rey whimpered quietly from where she knelt.   
  
“I took you to that sushi bar!”   
  
“You didn’t cook th-” Rey had to stop what she was saying for a moment while she continued chucking up the contents of her stomach which somehow still had contents to throw out.   
  
“I know… I know… but…  feel responsible- there, that’ll do,” Phasma murmured as she finally got the girl’s hair into a few neat buns that did keep all her hair back. “Now, I’ll go get you some water and ring up your parents to make sure they know where you are.”   
  
“You’re always so nice to me,” Rey croaked as the bleach blonde woman left the room to sort everything out, blushing a little at the girl’s words.   
  
A few hours later and Rey was curled up on Phasma's sofa, draped in blankets and surrounded by cushions while the woman fetched her water to sip on and told her off for trying to grab some snacks from the bowl on the table.   
  
“I got this one time, you can’t eat just yet Rey. You need to rest and drink plenty.”   
  
“Can I cuddle?”   
  
“As long as cuddling doesn’t become too strenuous of an activity.”   
  
“Funny,” Rey replied with a small snort before sipping at some more water and relaxing a little as Phasma perched on the arm of the sofa and reached over ruffled her hair gently. “Are my parents gonna come fetch me or did they just say I should stay the night?” The girl asked after a little while, not really wanting to go anywhere, she was quite comfortable here at Phasma’s, enjoying the warmth and company currently being offered and the amount of attention all on her right now. It was nice. It was good. And despite the on and off nature of their relationship over the last year she was quite happy just to sit and imagine every day being like this. Still. For now it would just be a daydream until something real began to happen between them… something more than random dates and the occasional kiss. Something official…  
  
“They said you could stay, they’ve got some dinner to go out to anyway and don’t have the time to look after you, whereas I am quite happy to take tomorrow off of college to care for my favourite girl.”   
  
“Really?” She asked with hopeful eyes and flushed cheeks - though she might just blame that on her current sickness and being wrapped up in a tonne of blankets.   
  
“Really,” Phasma replied, leaning over and pressing a kiss to Rey’s cheek before getting up and going back through to the kitchen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm bad at writing dates. Especially ones that go well. When things go wrong I'm fine for writing.


	5. Christmas Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We skip ahead in time a little to Phasma's Christmas party with a fair bit of Hux, Kylo, alcohol, hiding in closets and being down right honest with each other...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologise greatly for how long this has taken to update. College has been stressful and I've been struggling to catch a break. Hopefully it won't take me so long next time. Also you might consider this underage drinking in the States but like 18 is the legal age in England where this is set.

Hux had knocked back more drinks than he could count and honestly he didn’t think he was even  _ that _ drunk, however his judgment was incredibly impaired so who was he to decide that? It was while he was stood there, pouring himself another shot out and nodding along to the music that he felt a tap on his shoulder and a small shiver went through him.

“Sup?” he slurred, turning to face Kylo with a wide, drunken grin on his face while the other guy just raised an eyebrow.   
  
“You’re drunk.”   
  
“Mmmm, so what if I am?”

“I thought we could talk.”   
  
“Talk about what?” Hux asked with a small giggle before downing the shot and nearly spilling half of it down his face. 

 

Hux and Kylo sat on the floor in Phasma’s surprisingly large closet - the ginger had a blanket draped over him and the happiest smile that the other boy thought he’d ever seen grace his face.   
  
“So like… when  _ did _ you actually come out?”   
  
“Well… officially… just after prom… nearly  _ everyone _ knew about it by then, not gonna lie,” Hux mumbled, leaning his head slightly against Kylo’s shoulder… It amused him a little, to see the boy so vulnerable and happy to be in his company… It was an alien situation really. And then Hux decided to open his damn mouth again, “Why did  _ you _ never come out?”

“W-w-what do you mean?” Kylo stuttered, flushing red and trying to move away from Hux who just grabbed onto his arm and hung on like a limpet. 

“ _ Please Kylo _ , I’ve never seen you so much as  _ look _ at a girl’s ass.”   
  
“I’ve never looked at a guys ass either.”   
  
“But you-”

Kylo cleared his throat, “I’m not… I’m not really… y’know… I figured there was no point in coming out if nothing was ever going to… h-happen between me and anyone…” he mumbled before grabbing for the bottle of vodka he had inadvertently brought into the closet with them while trying to dissuade Hux from entering. He’d been trying to use the damn drink to coax him away and somehow it had failed as a plan...

“Oh so you…”   
  
“I’m not into  _ that _ .”   
  
“Are you into  _ anything _ ?”   
  
“I never really cared to find out,” Kylo mumbled, his voice strained as he turned red and decided to chug some more vodka until the bottle was torn away from his hands by the ginger monster sat beside him. “THAT WAS MINE.”   
  
“You can have it back in a minute,” Hux whispered before shushing him with a finger pressed hard up against Kylo’s disgusted frown. “So… have you ever even liked anyone?”   
  
“I’ve liked plenty of people Huxy, I even used to like you but then you… got  _ too  _ flirty.”   
  
“Mhmm. And?”   
  
“And what?”   
  
“You’ve never wanted to kiss anyone or anything?”   
  
“I wanted to kiss people sure but they wanted more so I never… let it go anywhere…” he let out a heavy sigh before yelping a little as he felt a pair of warm lips pressed against his cheek. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” came the strangled shriek from the back of his throat as Kylo clawed at the shelves behind him as if they might offer some route out.  
  
“You’re adorable.”   
  
“NO I’M NOT,” Kylo hissed, looking down at Hux and swallowing hard as he found himself blushing harder.   
  
“Yes you are, now c’mere and I’ll steal your first kiss.”   
  
“No you won’t.”   
  
“Why won’t I?”

“Because then you’ll want to take things further-”   
  
“What if I promise I won’t?” Hux asked, his hand on Kylo’s face now as they sat there in the dark closet, so close to one another that the black haired boy could smell not only the alcohol on his breath but the sweet scent of whatever cologne he had managed to put on without it being overwhelming.   
  
“Swear it,” Kylo whispered back, his throat tight as his curiosity and…  _ something else _ got the better of him despite the glare and furrow in his eyebrows.

“I swear it on your pretty black hair,” Hux replied before pressing a kiss to Kylo’s lips and dragging him closer, dropping the bottle to the floor not even caring as a little spilled out onto Phasma’s carpet. 

Kylo was a little overwhelmed at first by the intensity of the feelings that rushed through him as he experienced his first kiss from none other than the boy he’d spent the last six or seven years hating. And honestly it was the most wonderful thing he could remember experiencing, as Hux started to run his hands through his hair and press closer there was most definitely an aching in his chest that left him wanting a little more than they’d initially agreed to... Hux on the other hand was honest to God just enjoying being able to touch someone and feel their lips against his own because despite them being in a department full of LGBT students he hadn’t been able to get so much as a number from any of the guys. He also enjoyed it because it was a long time since he’d kissed someone so new to kissing– even if he was totally intoxicated, the boy’s inexperience was clear and made him feel all the more vulnerable as they held onto each other in the dark closet and broke for air, hot breath fanning out over each other’s faces.

“You like that?” Hux mumbled quietly if not also a little eagerly as he moved a little closer and lifted Kylo’s chin to press a few gentle kisses to his throat. The dark haired boy just hummed in response, not quite able to form any words as his whole thought process melted away at the feeling of Hux’s lips on his skin.

It was when Hux reached his collarbone that Kylo snapped back to reality slightly and pushed him away, shaking his head and panting heavily as he stared at him in the darkness – he didn’t want things to go further than kissing but…  _ fuck _ he wanted to kiss this boy as much as he could while he had the chance. He grabbed the ginger by the chin and brought him back in close, pressing a hard kiss to his lips and wrapping his hand around the back of his neck as he did. There were no protests coming from Brendol, in fact quite the opposite as he hummed delightedly and wrapped his arms around Kylo’s waist…

Phasma was not in the soberist of states herself when she walked through to her room to find hair dye - but as she opened up her closet and turned on the lights she let out a gleeful noise at the sight before her.   
  
“FINN OWES ME TWENTY QUID!” she yelled, startling the pair and causing Kylo to pull away rather hastily and start panicking where he sat beside Hux on the floor.  
  
“What’re you talking about?” Hux asked with a small giggle as he looked up at his bleach-blonde friend stood in the doorway.   
  
“YOU TWO ARE GETTING IT ON.”   
  
“NO WE AREN’T! THERE- NO- NOTHING!” Kylo tripped over his words and scrambled up to his feet, looking frantically between the two of them before swallowing a hard lump in his throat and pushing past the tall woman to get out of the closet and away from Hux. 

His heart was pounding hard in his chest and he didn’t know what to do with himself - now he’d walked away he had to keep on walking because he honestly knew that if he turned around now he’d probably tell Hux something dumb like he loved him and they’d end up kissing again and then he’d have to actually consider being in a relationship with someone which was terrifying enough in itself - then again Hux probably didn’t want him. It had just been a kiss, an incredibly drunken kiss. It was probably all a joke to the boy that Kylo had just left in the closet and he’d have forgotten about it in the morning. Yeah. He was overthinking things. General Weasley back there had promised he wouldn’t want things to go further hadn’t he? Kylo had to swallow hard again as he realised maybe  _ he  _ wanted things to go further. He grabbed the nearest bottle of whiskey - which happened to be in Finn’s hands and the kid shouldn’t have had a hold of it anyway - before starting to chug from it.   
  
Back in the closet, Phasma helped Hux up to his feet, “So, how long’s this been going on?” 

“It… no… we were just...  _ y’know, _ talking and Kylo’s never had a kiss and stuff,” Hux said before giggling a little, the happy noise followed by a heavy sigh. “It’s a waste of my efforts to try… he’s not interested.”   
  
“He looked pretty damn interested.”   
  
“You don’t understand.”   
  
“Try me?”   
  
“I’m pretty sure he’s Asexual or something…” Hux mumbled, leaning against Phasma and closing his eyes a little as they stood there.   
  
“So what? You don’t  _ have  _ to have sex, maybe he’s not even sex repulsed - hang on, how  _ long _ have you liked him for.”   
  
“That’s a stupid question so ‘m not gonna answer.”

“Sure whatever, go out there and get him tiger, what’s the worst that could happen?”

“Well considering the fact that back in secondary school he scalped me and broke my arm and now he’s bigger and stronger. Many of the bad things are worse…” he mumbled rather drunkenly, pulling away from Phasma and towards the door. “Still… might as well try and cheer him up..”   
  
There was something in his voice that made the woman feel just a little sad for him in that moment… before she followed the boy out to watch how his pursuance went.

 

Hux reached Kylo who was now half way through the bottle he’d stolen from Finn, the ginger put a hand on his arm and gave it a gentle squeeze before recoiling at the absolutely venomous glare shot at him. All semblance of happiness drained from the ginger’s face and he just stared back, not actually able to hold back the words that decided to twist their way out of his mouth while his own gaze became equally poisonous.   
  
“What the fuck Kylo?”   
  
“I thought we said things weren’t going further!”   
  
“They… you seem upset I was coming to cheer you up not try and fuck you!” Hux’s voice hit pitches he never thought possible as he attempted to convey to Kylo the truth that the boy didn’t seem to want to hear.   
  
“Shut up,” Kylo mumbled, letting out a yelp as Hux snatched the bottle from him and put it down on the table.   
  
“Kylo fucking look at me,” he said, grabbing him by the chin and looking into his eyes. “I made a promise and I’ll keep my damn promise - but you’ve got to admit there was something back there.”   
  
“THIS IS WHAT EVERYONE SAYS! THIS IS WHAT ALWAYS HAPPENS WHEN I TRY TO BE CLOSE WITH SOMEONE! SHUT UP YOU STUPID GINGER PRICK!” he yelled, pulling away from him and trying to walk away only for Hux to grab him by the arm and punch him square on the nose. Not only breaking it for a second time but also knocking Kylo out cold on the floor.

Phasma had been watching the whole thing and her mouth was hanging open as she looked between the man on the floor and the one stood over him, “What the hell just…”   
  
“If we bleach his hair how ginger will it go?”   
  
“What?”   
  
“ _ How ginger will it go _ ?”   
  
“I don’t know.”   
  
“Help me fucking find out then.”

  
Phasma contemplated this for a second before just shrugging. “Okay, I’ll go get the stuff. You drag him into the bathroom…”


	6. After the Christmas Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kylo brings Hux home in the hopes that his college mate will explain why his usually black hair is now VERY ginger...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ayyyy a quickish update. Not long now and college will be over and I can work on this a bit more.

Kylo came marching into class with the worst hangover he’d ever experienced currently banging at his brain, and a look on his face that could only spell out  _ revenge _ as he scanned the room for Hux’s  _ dead  _ ass.

When he did reach their work space, face red with rage while he grabbed the back of Hux’s head and slammed his face down onto the desk with a very satisfying screech escaping the boy.   
  
“That’s for my fucking hair and this-” Phasma was the one to come grab Kylo and drag him away from Hux.   
  
“DON’T BE SUCH A FUCKING ASSWIPE KYLO!” she yelled, her arms wrapped around him as she dragged him far far away from her ginger friend, “That was a dick move even by my standards - as was what you did last night.”   
  
“And what the fuck exactly did I do?” he hissed, turning on her when she loosened her hold a little.   
  
“Freaking out like that on Hux, that was cruel beyond belief, especially when you clearly have feelings for him,” her voice was low enough that no one else nearby could hear over the music that Hux was now sat in his corner blaring out of the speaker he’d brought to class with him. Kylo glanced across, a satisfied smirking flashing across his features for a split second when he saw a little blood trickling down from Hux’s nose.

“Who says I have fucking feelings for him?” He sniffed and turned his nose up indignantly, granted it wasn’t quite the same when the person in front of him was at his height.   
  
“Everything you do says it dickweed.” Phasma had narrowed eyes and a tone like she was telling her child off - but one that made you feel like she might actually be your mother, causing Kylo to react like he might be being scolded by none other than his own mum.   
  
“Shut up. I don’t have feelings for anyone.” He folded his arms, looking away.   
  
“You keep telling yourself that.”   
  
“I will. Because you see what he did? He broke my nose.  _ Again _ . And now I’m FUCKING GINGER!” The boy was now pointing at his nose and grabbing chunnks of his hair as if to demonstrate the point he was yelling at her and Phasma just laughed a little, unable to help herself.

“This wouldn’t have happened if you weren’t such an asswipe.”   
  
“Piss off, you have no idea about what’s happened between us.”

“I think I have a pretty good one.”

“Whatever,” he spat before returning to his workspace beside Hux, the boy just sat there blaring out music and totally blanking him with a few tissues pressed up against his still bleeding face. It was only after a few seconds of staring at his work and getting nothing done that Kylo noticed exactly  _ what _ song was coming out of Hux’s speakers

 

_ ‘You broke my heart, _

_ So I broke your nose, _

_ And I’m not sorry that I got blood on your clothes…’ _

 

Kylo let out a disgruntled noise but chose not to acknowledge it in any other way. Now Hux was just being a complete and utter child - and he probably was too but he didn’t particularly care. It was the only way he could keep from ruining his own image by apologizing to the boy sat beside him who now definitely  _ did not _ deserve it.

“Turn that fucking shit off,” Kylo muttered after a few minutes.   
  
“Why?” Hux asked as ‘Jerk of the Week’ started playing.

“Because I’ve got a rotten fucking hangover and it’s not helping.”   
  
“Fine.”

  
  
*

 

Hux was just about to step onto his bus home when a strong, firm hand grabbed a hold of his arm and he was dragged away from the doors to find himself facing none other than Kylo Ren.   
  
“What do you want? Let go of me!”   
  
“You’re coming to meet my parents.”   
  
“WHAT? WHY?” he spluttered, turning a few shades of pink as Kylo’s grip on his arm got tighter and the bus pulled away behind him.   
  
“Because I need you to explain to them why I’m ginger!” he replied, starting to drag Hux down the street.   
  
“YOU MADE ME MISS MY BUS!” He screamed, tearing at his hand a little while he stared wide-eyed at him.

 

“Shut up, I’ll drive you home,” Kylo replied, his voice inappropriately relaxed as he kept his vice like grip on Hux’s limb and continued dragging him until they reached the chrome car that looked incredibly far out of the other art students price-range. Hux didn’t have time to think about that though.

 

“YOU ARE SUCH A FREAK KYLO.”   
  
“Speak for yourself.”

 

*

  
  
Kylo dragged Hux into his house by the wrist, the boy rather amused now at what was happening… so amused in fact that, at this point, he couldn’t really be angry at Kylo for dragging him home with him.   
  
“Ben? Who’s this?” his mum asked with raised eyebrows while his dad barely even acknowledged that they’d turned up.   
  
“This is Hux and he’s going to explain to you why I’m ginger.”   
  
Hux raised his eyebrows a little and bit down on his lip before leaning in and whispering, “ _ Do you really want me to tell them why I dyed your hair ginger _ ?” in the most sultry tone he could muster, causing Kylo to remember the kiss and how he’d reacted and realise that, no, he did not want Hux to tell his mother  _ that _ story. As Kylo stood there blushing Hux pulled away again before going over to Leia and offering her his hand.   
  
“Hi Mrs Solo, I bet you don’t remember me!” he said with a biggest smile he thought he’d ever shown anyone- it took her a moment but she did remember.   
  
“Oh Brendol! Where’s all your long hair gone?” she cooed before pinching his cheeks and ruffling his neat locks.   
  
“I cut it off after Kylo pulled some of it out and broke my arm on sports day,” he said, the smile still plastered over his face while the boy behind him practically screeched.   
  
“WE’RE NOT SUPPOSED TO TALK ABOUT THAT!”

 

*

  
  
“Oh Brendol darling, you should stay the night, it’s getting late!” Leia said softly as he finished eating his pudding and glanced up at her with big eyes.   
  
“Really Mrs Solo?” Hux asked, looking like the favourite child who’d just been blessed beyond belief by both Christmas AND his birthday somehow happening on the same day unexpectedly with no explanation.

“Yes of course - Ben you can sleep on the sofa.”   
  
“BUT MUM!” he cried out in a tone that was a mixture of both being offended and pained at this statement from his mother.   
  
“He is our guest, he can have you room.”   
  
“You know how the sofa fucks up my back-”   
  
“ _ Ben _ .”   
  
“ _ I bet grandad never had to sleep on the sofa…” _

“You know what. I’ll let you two decide between yourselves if you’re going to be like that,” she said curtly before leaving the room.   
  
“I’m the guest, so I think I’ll take the bed.”   
  
“Fuck you.”   
  
“I made you a promise I wouldn’t.” Hux couldn’t help himself.  
  
“THAT IS NOT WHAT I MEANT.” Kylo’s face was rapidly turning a beet colour and Hux just found it increasingly amusing - Ben’s attempt at revenge was now turning to his own delight and amusement.   
  
“That’s what you said.”   
  
“PLEASE STOP I DON’T NEED THOSE THOUGHTS IN MY HEAD.”

 

*

  
  
They were still arguing by the time they got up to Kylo’s room and Hux was going through his drawers to find some pyjamas to borrow when he found his hands being slapped away.   
  
“You can sleep in what you’re wearing.”   
  
He screwed his face up a little and looked over at him in the dim light, not expecting Kylo to be quite so close. “Whatever dickhead. Normally I sleep in my boxers but I was going to be nice to you and your little asexual ass.”    
  
“My what?”

“You fucking heard me.”   
  
“Asexual?” Kylo was genuinely confused and curious now rather than angry or any of the other things he’d spent the day being.   
  
“GOOGLE IT,” Hux’s tone indicated more exasperation than he could ever hope to express through words alone.

 

*

 

Hux was just crawling into bed beside Kylo when the normally black haired boy pushed him back.   
  
“What the fuck?”    
  
“We are top and tailing.” It was an order, not an option.   
  
“But it’s a double bed there’s plenty of room-”   
  
“I’m not having your face anywhere near mine.”   
  
“So you want my feet instead?” Hux looked down and wiggled his toes a little before giving Kylo a cheeky grin.   
  
“They are preferable.”

Hux rolled his eyes, grabbed a pillow and crawled to the other end of the bed.

And so they lay there in silence for a good few minutes before Hux started to snigger to himself.   
  
“What?” Kylo snapped.   
  
“So my face can’t be near your face but it can be nearer to your crotch, I  _ see  _ how it is.”   
  
Kylo remained silent for a very long time as his face turned redder and redder in the darkness where he lay, before he finally picked up his pillow and moved to the other end of the bed beside Hux.

“It is sooooo long since I’ve had a sleepover!” Hux replied, nudging Kylo and laughing at the noises of discomfort that escaped him, he was going to milk this situation for all the amusement he could get at the moment.

“Shut up…”   
  
“Oh come  _ on _ ,” Hux replied softly. “I was  _ just  _ trying to make conversation.”   
  
“I know full well you’re not  _ just _ trying to make conversation. And you’re in my bed. I don’t like it.”   
  
“What’s not to like?” Hux asked saucily.   
  
“Hux… Please. Don’t make innuendos and things I-” Kylo was cut off by Hux who was now genuinely curious in his tone rather than teasing, Kylo wasn’t sure he could always tell the difference between the two as he listened to the blunt question.   
  
“Are you repulsed by the idea of sex?”    
  
“I… don’t know… I… you’re making me uncomfortable,” he mumbled before rolling over so his back was to the other boy.

Hux frowned a moment and stared at the back of Kylo’s head before gently reaching out and putting a gentle hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry if I upset you,” he whispered quietly, only for Kylo to shrink away a little and pull the blankets tighter around himself.   
  
“Ben-” he caught himself a little as Kylo tensed up, realising his mistake in calling him the same name he had back when they were friends.   
  
“Don’t call me that.”   
  
“Okay…  _ Kylo _ , are you okay?”

“N-no…”

“Why not?” Hux asked softly, realising that Kylo probably didn’t have any close enough friends to actually talk about his inner feelings with - he wasn’t sure Kylo had anyone other than Finn, and despite their continued hate for one another, it made him feel sad for him.

“Because of too many things… you wouldn’t care…”

“Tell me anyway,” he said, running his thumb in gentle circles on the back of his shoulder while he waited for Kylo to speak. It took a few minutes for him to relax enough to even say a word- the feeling of Hux’s touch somewhat comforting to him as he lay there, his back to him.   
  
“I don’t feel the same way as other people do… and I don’t understand it and nobody else does… and it’s… confusing and lonely…” His voice was almost as small as he made himself as he curled up tightly beside Hux.

“Did I make things worse at the party?”

“I… don’t know…” he whispered, wrapping his arms around himself and pressing his face into the pillow.   
  
“Why don’t you know?”   
  
“I just don’t...”    
  
“Why did you freak out so much? I promised you I wouldn’t expect anything more,” Hux murmured softly, hesitating before moving a little closer and wrapping an arm around him gently so Kylo didn’t have to lie there and hug himself.   
  
“I… I think it was Phasma…” Kylo tensed a little when he felt the other guy’s arm around him, eventually just pressing back against him, glad for the physical contact. 

“What about Phas’?” Hux asked, squeezing him a little tighter and letting out a soft sigh of relief as Kylo seemed to relax and didn’t fight against him.

“She made me panic…” 

“And why was that?”

“Because… her wording… her reaction… I don’t…” Kylo groaned and turned over in Hux’s grasp, looking at him for a moment before just pulling him  closer and burying his face in his chest to try and hide while he was being held.  
  
“Having an audience made you panic?”   
  
“I s’ppose…”

“We could always try again,” Hux replied, half joking and half suggesting it while Kylo practically recoiled at the mention. “Woah. Dude. It’s okay. I was kidding,” Hux whispered, drawing him back closer and rubbing his back gently, “I don’t wanna upset you, okay? Despite how sometimes it really seems like I want to.”   
  
“Okay… whatever you say… I don’t even get why you’re being nice to me?”

“Would you believe me if I said it was so that I can get a comfortable night's sleep…”   
  
“Maybe.”

“Good because I’m too tired to come up with a better reason.”

Kylo mumbled something that could have been an ‘okay’ but he was too sleepy and his face was too muffled from being pressed up against Hux’s chest for him to be able to decipher it.

 

*

 

Hux found himself waking up in a mild panic as a large, hairy animal jumped on him and licked at his ears and neck to wake him up.   
  
“WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?!” he yelled, not entirely sure where he was or what was happening in those first few sudden waking seconds. 

“Chewie.. go away…” Kylo mumbled from where he lay, grappling to grab a hold of the very warm Hux and pull him back close again in his half conscious state.   
  
“This thing is called Chewie?” Hux asked, trying to push the dog back, only to have his face licked to death while Kylo whined and accidentally groped him in efforts to find warmth again.   
  
“KYLO PLEASE DO NOT!” 

“What?”

“STOP PUTTING YOUR HANDS ON ME.”

“Okay fine…” he mumbled, sitting up and shooing the dog away before settling back down, “I’m gonna go back sleep…”   
  
“What-”   
  
“The dog comes to wake me up for college but it’s not college today,” Kylo whispered, shuffling closer to Hux and whining as he tried to get up, “Don’t leave you’re warm…”   
  
“I need to pee though..”   
  
“Come back then…” Kylo whispered, drawing the blankets tighter and whining before starting to make a few slight snoring noises.   
  
When Hux came back he contemplated just leaving but Kylo’s eyes flickered open slightly and he whined for him to come keep him warm- and despite his insistence on the fact that he hated him, Brendol Hux couldn’t say no to that half asleep adorable bundle in front of him. He crawled back in beside the boy, earning a very appreciative hum.

“Last time I saw Chewie he was much smaller,” Hux whispered as he found a mess of  _ now ginger  _ hair tickling his chin and hot breath on his neck.   
  
“Well he was just a puppy then.”   
  
“What breed is he?”   
  
“I don’t know…”   
  
“I never knew you were such a cuddler,” he teased softly as Kylo’s arms wound tighter around his waist.   
  
“I’ve not had a hug off anyone in a long time…” Kylo whispered quietly, a little more conscious than before but at this point not caring. He was warm, he was holding onto someone and everything seemed right in the world. They could go back to hating each other another time but for now, this was what he wanted.

“Well maybe I can make up for that.”   
  
“Aren’t you forgetting we hate each other?”   
  
“I might be.”   
  
Kylo just laughed a little and snaked his arm around Hux a little more before grabbing a hold of the back of his shirt. “Look at this. We could almost be friends.”   
  
“Almost. If only-” his phone began ringing and he couldn’t finish his sentence. “Bollocks,” Hux whispered under his breath before reaching out and grabbing the damn thing to answer. “Hello?” he asked, not having checked who it was.   
  
“Hey dude! I was just like checking up on you since yesterday you sent me that half finished text and then never messaged me back or came on facebook when you got home?” Phasma said, her words so rushed that he could barely make out what she was saying.   
  
“Uh yeah… sorry about that… I kind of got dragged away and distracted…”   
  
“Oh?”

“Um-”   
  
“Hux turn that fucking thing off I’m trying to get back to sleep,” Kylo grumbled loud enough that the microphone on his phone picked up and so Phasma heard it.   
  
“ _ Well then _ .”   
  
“It’s not what you think…” Hux whispered rather desperately.   
  
“Ahuh.”   
  
“Really Phasma, it isn’t I-” Kylo grabbed his phone and pulled it away before wishing Phasma a ‘nice day’ and saying ‘goodbye’, proceeding to hang up and put the phone back out of Hux’s reach.   
  
“And you’re the one who doesn’t want things to go further?”   
  
“She can think what she wants to think I don’t fucking care I want to sleep and I want to cuddle,” Kylo mumbled, whining as Hux tried to get up, “NO!” he yelped before just flopping on top of him, “Stay… warm…”

 

*

  
After about half an hour of silence and Hux having to lie there with Kylo on top of him, the man decided that enough was enough and shoved him off.   
  
“What the hell?”   
  
“You’re pissing me off now-”   
  
“But-”   
  
“No. You don’t get to lie there and cuddle me and be all cute and not give me a fucking say in things Kylo,” Hux growled, getting up to his feet and keeping his back to him.   
  
“But-”   
  
“No Kylo. Okay at first, you were being cute but- you can’t flip out at me one night because I kiss you and Phasma turns up making innuendos and then- then hurt my fucking feelings and deny there’s even anything and then… fucking  _ this _ .”

“You didn’t have to share the bed-”   
  
“You didn’t have to cuddle me. You didn’t have to steal my phone and hang up on Phasma. You could’ve just slept somewhere else you bastard. You could’ve just ignored me. You didn’t have to talk to me last night.”   
  
Kylo fell silent as he stared over at Hux stood next to the bed, his shoulders heaving from his outburst before he sat down and started putting his shoes on.   
  
He bit down on his lip as he thought about saying sorry, but just shook his head.   
  
“Sorry for thinking we could be close again,” he growled quietly before pulling the duvet over his head, “and sorry for wanting back the best friend I ever had…”   
  
“I can’t have been that good of a friend if you pushed me away over a little flirting.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t flirt with friends.”

“Just shut up, dick.”


	7. Somewhere only we know

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kylo wants to apologise but Hux can't accept his own feelings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> COLLEGE IS OVER FOR ME! I literally have no schooling until September now so like WRITING FTW! Also, I have been working on actual original stuff with my partner and hopefully we can get something published online this year and make a little money.

Kylo chewed hard on his lip as he tried to get himself to actually hit the send button that his thumb was hovering over, this whole apologising thing was hard work - especially when he hadn’t even done it yet but felt this awful aching and burning that insisted he must. Finally, after much deliberation and cursing and rocking back and forth with anxiety he managed to press that button and send the text message to Hux.

 

*

 

Hux’s phone buzzed as he was sat in bed with Phasma, discussing the various wonders of life while they had the tv on in the background. The woman paused and nodded towards the lit up screen while Hux let out a heavy sigh and picked up, furrowing his brow at the name that had come up.   
  
“Kylo texted me…” he whispered in what was both a blunt and confused voice before he looked back up at Phasma, as if she might have some answer as to why the boy whose hair they’d bleach was texting him.   
  
“You’ve gone and pulled,” she said with a wink while Hux rolled his eyes far enough to indicate he was unimpressed with her.   
  
“Shut the fuck up. He hates me,” he muttered with a red blush spread over his cheeks, doubting those words himself as he said them. “He wants… I don’t… what the fuck?” Hux asked, turning the screen to face her so she could try and interpret it.

“Those are coordinates,” she said rather matter of factly, grabbing some leftover candy from her party and stuffing her face with it while Hux tried to ignore the itchy flush on his neck.   
  
“I’m sorry  _ what?”  _ He replied, rather dumbfounded while the peroxide blonde just smirked at him and reached out a hand to ruffle his hair.

“Coordinates.”   
  
“To what exactly?”   
  
“I dunno, you gotta find out.”   
  
“Do I really though?” He groaned, curling in on himself and staring at the phone as he got a rather too enthusiastic response from Phasma.   
  
“ _ Yes! _ ” Phasma silently swore to herself that if they didn’t sort themselves out soon she would find a way to lock them up together for a few hours, whether they liked it or not. They were clearly made for each other no matter how much they denied it and she wanted to see her ginger friend get himself a boyfriend.  
  
“Ugh, he’s just a cryptic little freak, why should I bother.” Hux threw his hands up, letting go of the phone and letting out a sigh of relief as it landed on the pillow beside him instead of on his face.   
  
“Because you looooove him.”   
  
“Shut up, no I don’t, I… hate him…” he muttered before swallowing hard and turning away from her to stare down at his phone. “I should… go find out where this is…”   
  
“Mhmmm.” Her eyes were knowing and the ginger had to roll over to hide the redness of his face.

 

*

  
  
Hux got there, the old school sports field, of course this was where Kylo would want to meet… he’d received another text with a time- the middle of the fucking night actually. So Hux was a little less than impressed as he trudged across the mud in the cold towards the boy silhouetted in the dim moonlight.  
  
“So what the fuck do you want?” Hux asked as he got closer to the figure, his arms folded and his expression cold as Kylo turned to face him, something in his hand. “A-are those… fucking flowers?!” he spluttered, the redness rising up his neck and cheeks while he watched his icy breath dissipate and the usually black-haired boy took a few steps towards him.   
  
“Might be…” Kylo said, now feeling thoroughly embarrassed and realising that maybe the flowers had been overdoing it a bit. Especially roses- why had he picked out fucking roses? What had possessed him to do something like that. He continued to think while Hux clenched and unclenched his hands in front of him, deep breaths escaping his lips and causing a mist between them. “I uh… suppose you’re wondering why I asked you here.”   
  
“Damn fucking right I am,” Hux burst out as the boy took another step closer, so there was barely any distance between them as the flowers were pressed into his chest and Kylo’s warm breath was fanning out over his face. He didn’t flinch. Didn’t move. Just waited. Kylo was doing things to him that he hated but he couldn’t help but allow himself this little closeness… even if this didn’t go well. Even if he’d told himself he’d push Kylo away because he was just too high maintenance. Even though he’d told himself that there was no fucking way he could ever make this work with such an emotionally incapable person.   
  
“I… I wanted to say sorry.” His voice was weak. Pleading. He shook and it wasn’t from the cold as he just let the flowers hang in his grip before making a half-hearted attempt to give them to Hux. Kylo was a little surprised when he did feel icy fingers brush against his own and grab the bunch, a disgruntled noise that could have been a ‘thankyou’ left the shorter ones lips before things fell silent again and they just stood there. So close. They could kiss. But they didn’t know where they stood with each other- except in a cold field that was white with frost.   
  
“Couldn’t you have sent a text?” Hux finally breathed out, his voice weak, almost sad… because well he was sad. Sad enough that when the other reached out and cupped his face, he let him, and he looked up to see how the lack of light still made his eyes glint beautifully. The ginger swallowed thickly and enjoyed the moment in a bittersweetness as he thought about how he couldn’t let this happen. He couldn’t allow these feelings. He and Kylo didn’t know how to be friendly anymore. They couldn’t do this. No matter how much he fantasised about being in a happy relationship with another man- with Kylo- it couldn’t be. It just couldn’t. And he wouldn’t let him hurt him again, as the taller boy surely would.   
  
“I wanted to be sincere,” Kylo whispered, watching Hux shiver and immediately drawing his hand back to take his jacket off and wrap it around him- the ginger pushed it away and shrugged him off. Kylo was too hurt from being shrugged off, to notice how the other was holding back tears.   
  
“Couldn’t you have been sincere somewhere warm, in the daytime?” his voice broke as he spoke and Hux was worried Kylo might notice it and try to comfort him with a hug or something. He couldn’t let him touch him again. He knew he’d say something or kiss him or just… ruin his chances of saying no and sparing them both this hurt.   
  
“I wasn’t sure how to do this after how we left things-” Kylo reached out only to be slapped away by Hux, who still had a whiteknuckled grip on the roses in his hand. Kylo wondered if he could take that they weren’t on the floor as a good sign, despite the way his old friend was acting.   
  
“You know what. You shouldn’t have fucking bothered. Why couldn’t we just leave it. Continue how we’ve always been. Hating each other.” Hux’s voice was weak. Everything about him was weak, and he felt it as he stood there, staring at the floor now, trying to ignore the hard lump in his throat as he considered he might be throwing away his only chance to have something with his first crush… first love even if he could have been in love back when they were eleven...   
  
“But we haven’t always hated each other?” Kylo just sounded confused, he was trying his best, bless him, and Hux was just pushing him away as hard as he could.   
  
“Well it’s gone on so long now that I don’t see any point in us doing anything else,” Hux whispered, whining a little as Kylo stepped closer and tried to put his hand on his face in a comforting manner. “Kylo. Just stop. Please. Don’t do this to yourself. To me. This isn’t good. It can’t work… just stop and let things be as they have been.”   
  
“I don’t even know how they’ve been anymore after the last few weeks. I’ve not known what to think about you… about us… since we were at Phasma’s. Hux you- you-”   
  
“I what?” he snapped, tears spilling over and down his cheeks as he looked up at Kylo and let him keep his hands on his face. His thumbs stopped rubbing circles on Hux’s skin for a second before he tried to wipe away his tears, his thoughts a mess as he tried to construct his feelings into sentences. Everything he wanted to say was too much for just words.  _ You confused me Hux _ . He thought to himself, finding himself being choked by some invisible force that was stopping him from speaking as he hoped maybe he could just communicate through his gaze. Maybe Hux could work out everything he wanted to say just by the sheer force of how he looked at him and held his face.  _ You made me forget that I wanted to hide how I felt. You made me forget how scared I was to let anyone touch me or kiss me. You made me feel like it was safe to be held _ . All these words and he couldn’t say a single one out loud.   
  
The problem wasn’t that Hux didn’t understand what Kylo’s gaze was saying to him. It was that he refused to believe it. He refused to believe that after all this time there could be anything between them except hatred and harsh words - despite the two times they’d been together. Alone. They’d kissed and it had been sweet. They’d held one another and cuddled and just… been there with each other and it had been amazing and the thought of it again took his breath away, causing him to inhale sharply as he thought about it and tried to think of some words to say. Continued convincing himself that he didn’t want them to have anything like that. Like what he did truly want, and just denied over and over because Kylo was just so awkward and insistent on- on- he wasn’t even sure any more what it was on, only that despite him saying he wouldn’t want things to go further, it seemed like Kylo thought he wanted that. The usually dark haired boy was sending him the most mixed of signals and he refused to deal with that any longer.   
  
So when Kylo’s lips were suddenly on his, Hux tore back, refusing to let it happen, refusing to savour the moment or let it go further. When there was a short space between them, he looked up at that confused face crumpling a little at his angry expression. And rather than say anything, Hux turned and ran away.


	8. France.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Basically they go on the trip to France. Ha ha ha

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WE HAVE ALL READ ENOUGH FUCKING FANFICTION TO KNOW WHERE THIS IS GOING BITCHES

The plane finally landed and Kylo was so thankful to finally be off it, it wasn’t like it had been a long journey but he fucking hated planes. If people were meant to fly then they’d have wings.

 

They were all piled into a bus, he kept his eyes out for the annoying ginger who so far, he’d managed to avoid during the process of getting to France and he’d be damned if he were to let him ruin this whole thing for him like he ruined sports day and every other day of secondary school and now college. In actuality, the two had barely said a word to one another since that particularly cold and saddening night out on the field.   
  


Eventually they all reached the hotel, piled back out and stood around in reception while the teachers listed off who was sharing rooms. And it was only as people were paired off that Kylo suddenly realised he’d never submitted a formal request about the roomings, and clearly everyone else had because they were all wandering off with their best friends and people they got along with. It was at this point he realised this trip was not going to go well at all. Because fate had a funny way of making him come into contact with Brendol Hux and it always did it at the most inopportune of moments. And then the moment came, the moment where the teacher read out their names last because it had to come as the numbers dwindled and finally only the two of them were left and they couldn’t understand why the teachers would pair them up because it was clear they hated one another - but then again if they had hated each other so much they should really have thought about trying to find someone to pair with. Now they had to suffer the consequences of their inaction and it was not going to be fucking pretty at all.   
  


The walk to their room was in total silence with only the noise of their suitcases rolling over tiles behind them as they followed the hotel corridors and stairs to find the right floor and room number. They didn’t even glance at one another until they reached the door and Kylo unlocked it, giving Hux the death glare of a lifetime.    
  
“I’ll be making a formal complaint to the teachers later.”   
  
“Like they’d put us in separate rooms Kylo, they can’t pay for another now fuckhead.”   
  
“Shut the fuck up,” he growled, picking his case up and dropping it on the bed. “This is gonna be the worst fucking trip in the universe.”   
  
“Yes. Yes it is,” Hux replied with a heavy sigh, “I’m going to the bar. I cannot deal with this.”

 

*

 

Hux had been down in the hotel bar for a good hour or so before he spotted Kylo… the tall dark haired boy was in the doorway at the time, looking all dark and mysterious as he scanned the room of people, his eyes glossing over and apparently missing Brendol while he downed another shot of vodka. The ginger knew he was going to be spending many a night down here in the bar rather than up in that room because he knew he would not be able to sleep with that monster in the room.

 

And they had two weeks of this.

 

*   
  
Kylo returned to the room to find Hux already there, quietly singing under his breath to the tune of the pina colada song. He really did not care though as he collapsed onto his bed and heard the ginger mumble something and roll over.   
  
“Emo boy, you’re back,” he said before laughing a little to himself and burying his face in the pillow, Kylo just snorted and tried to grab for something to throw at Hux.   
  
“You’re stupid,” he finally muttered when he couldn’t find a single item to throw across the room - moving over there to punch him was literally not an option right now but he would not stand down from being called ‘emo’ of all things by that fucking dweeb in the bed on the other side of the room.   
  
“No  _ you’re  _ stupid fuckface.”   
  
“NO YOU ARE!”   
  
“Psssht, as if I could ever be stupid.”   
  
“You made me lose that fucking race on sports day.”   
  
“No you made  me  lose that. It was all your fucking fault.”   
  
“Nu-uh.”   
  
“Yuh-huh.”   
  
“Fuck off.”   
  
“No this is my room and my bed.”   
  
“Yeah and this is my room and my bed right over here…”   
  
“Fuck you.”   
  
“Mmm no.”   
  
“Just go to sleep…”   
  
“No,” Kylo started before passing out only a few seconds later and beginning to snore ever so slightly while he lay on the other side of the room… Hux actually found himself smiling a little, in his drunken state the sleeping sounds of his arch nemesis were actually sort of soothing to him. Just as they had been back in his room...   
  
*   
  
Hux woke up in the morning to find it dark _ , obviously  _ he had woken up at some stupid time but the need to pee all of a sudden was intense and so he had to get up. He reaching out and yanked on the light switch only for nothing to happen. He pulled again. And again nothing. A loud groan escaped him as he switched on the bedside lamp but instead went to the bathroom… Only when he was done with the toilet he also found that that wasn't working properly either. Fuck.    
  
*   
  
Hux was awoken again by Kylo swearing profusely at the toilet which wouldn’t flush just on the other side of the bathroom door. “Yeah, I found that out last night,” he called through, pushing himself up into a sitting position and rubbing at his eyes as Kylo stormed back through.   
  
“This is unacceptable!”   
  
“Yeah well… we just gotta deal with it I guess.”   
  
“No I’m complaining. Our lights won’t work and our toilet isn’t working - and there’s a draft coming through the edge of the window because there’s a gap in the frame. I will not have this.”   
  
*   
  
“Here’s your new room,” the manager said after his long speech of apology about the state of the room they’re previously had.   
  
“Thank you very much,” Kylo replied with the scariest look Hux had ever actually seen on his face, the manager was quick to scuttle off and leave them alone.   
  
“Jeez do you have to scare the guy so much?”   
  
“He needs to know I mean business.”   
  
“Okay whatever man - didn’t he say something about giving us an upgrade?”   
  
“Yeah, apparently this is one of the really good rooms with the good bathrooms and shit,” Kylo replied while Hux just glanced at the door and began shaking his head.   
  
“Kylo. This is a fucking honeymoon suite.”   
  
“What?”   
  
“You heard me.”   
  
“But-”   
  
“Are you going to go complain to the manager again.”   
  
“Well-”   
  
“Are you?”   
  
“ _ We’re not a couple though _ .”   
  
“Truer words have never been spoken Kylo but this is a good room.”    
  
The boy let out a defeated sigh and nodded before opening the door and backing out again. “No fucking way.”   
  
“What?”   
  
“One bed.”   
  
“WHAT?”

 

“ONE BED YOU HEARD ME!”

 

“Are you going to complain or man up and share with me.”   
  
“FUck you, like I’d share with you.”

  
“You shared a room with me already for twenty four hours, what’s a bed,” Hux teased a little, “Anyway, it wouldn’t be the first time we  _ cuddled _ and slept together.”   
  
“Fuck off. You’re the one who threw a hissy fit last time.”


	9. Don't Stand So Close To Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Of course a day out is required any time you go away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Firstly, I offer my sincerest apologies. I had much of this written for a long time, however the messy break up and falling out that happened between me and my co-writer meant it was hard for me to even so much as look at the fic. With a little editing and cleaning up, I'm going to upload what I have written and try to bring this to some sort of a conclusion for you all. Again. I am incredibly sorry. I was in a very bad place for a while and writing anything was far from my mind. But due to some encouragement from my new partner with my writing, I've decided to start writing again, and felt that I could not do that without at least publishing the rest of this work. I am in a place now where I can give this a happy ending.

“Kylo is so pissed that we have to share not only a room but a  _ bed _ now,” Hux said with a soft chuckle as he sketched the worst doodle in his life into his pad while Phasma just shook her head and smiled gently to herself.   
  
“Damn, what I would give to have just the one bed between myself and Rey,” she said before winking at the boy and chewing her lip a little, “Still… it’s nice sharing the room with her.”

 

“How are things between you two?”   
  
“ _ Good _ .”   
  
“Care to elaborate?”   
  
“Your tiny little boy brain can not take the things I would tell you about how good me and Rey are right now.”   
  
“Oh  _ I see _ .”

  
  


“So… this is like… our holiday day?” Hux asked, looking across at Phasma who just rolled her eyes before patting him on the head condescendingly.   
  
“Yes. We get to go wander around and do what we want Hux. So what  _ shall  _ we do?”   
  
“I uh… I don’t know… I did not prepare for this,” Hux replied a little panickedly as he realised he  _ should  _ have planned for this. But instead had been too busy worrying about sharing a room with Kylo when they were going through the running order for everything they were to be doing during the trip.

 

A heavy sigh escaped Phasma and she put on a facade of annoyance when really she was just a little amused at how Hux was acting - maybe sharing a room with Kylo was having a bit more of an effect on him than she thought, he definitely seemed scattier than usual.

 

In all honesty she was starting to view their relationship as more of a love/hate crush rather than just them simply hating each other’s guts. Whether they saw it as that was a completely different matter but it half made her a wonder if they weren’t so blinded by the act they’d put up for so many years. It had been pretty clear back at Christmas when she found them on the floor in her closet that there was something going on there - but Kylo had built his walls back up so high that currently she was struggling to envision him bringing them back down again for Hux.

 

“How about we just wander around and see what we find, after all, it’s meant to be a relaxing day,” the woman said, taking a hold of Hux by the elbow and starting to pull him down the street.   
  
“Um, that seems like a plan.”

 

*

 

Hux and Phasma hadn’t even been out wandering Paris for… half an hour? When she turned around in a crowd to realise the ginger had just  _ gone _ . He was nowhere to be seen and that was saying something for how tall they both were.

 

“What the actual fuck Hux?” she growled, getting up on her tiptoes and continuing to search - rather than finding the particular ginger she was looking for, instead she spotted a certain tall, dark-haired boy. Pushing her way through the crowd she grabbed the back of Kylo and Finn’s shirts and dragged them close so that they could hear her.    
  
“Hux has disappeared off somewhere and we need to fucking find him before he has a meltdown because he does not seem okay.”   
  
“I don’t see why I have to-” Kylo began before looking around and seeing the look in Phasma’s eyes. “Why would he have a meltdown?”   
  
“He’s already distressed because he did not make any plans for today, he likes planning it makes him feel safe.”   
  
“Oh yeah, I remember one time he forgot we had to do this essay so he planned nothing and he had a full on meltdown and thought that school was going to kick him out,” Kylo replied, laughing a little before clamping his mouth shut as Phasma stared daggers at him.   
  
“Where do we start?” Finn asked like an excited puppy.

 

“Shall we split up- do you guys have maps for getting back?”   
  
“Yes,” they both replied in unison.   
  
“Okay, so he won’t have gone far. It’s just a matter of time before we find him.”   
  
*   
  
Kylo had been wandering for what felt like  _ hours _ to him, but in actual fact had been more like forty five minutes give or take. It was when he rounded a corner on some random street, totally lost by this point, that he spotted the ginger admiring something through the window of an antiques shop.   
  
“OI HUXXY!” he yelled, the man went rigid but refused to acknowledge him otherwise.

 

He waited a second before sighing and walking up behind Hux. “What’re you looking at?” he asked softly, smirking a little before resting his head on the other’s shoulder.   
  
“I’m looking at that clock to try and take my mind off how panicked I am.”   
  
“Oh?”   
  
“Watching the pendulum swing is actually quite soothing.”   
  
“Mhm.”   
  
“Will you get off me?”   
  
“Why? You’re warm...” Kylo replied a little too snarkily as he tried to wrap his arms around Hux’s waist, only to be shoved away and punched in the face.   
  
“Don’t fucking touch me,” Hux growled, honestly all he wanted Kylo to do at the moment was  _ touch him,  _ but the guy would never be with him the way he really wanted so pushing him away was the better option.   
  
“I WAS JUST JOKING.”   
  
“That is  _ not _ an appropriate joke, Kylo,” Hux replied, it took a few seconds for Kylo to realise how serious the guy was being, he backed off a little and nodded sincerely.   
  
“Okay. I won’t do that again,” he said softly, staring at him for a few long moments, not entirely sure how he felt about the fact that Hux had just told him off… or what he himself had just done, both to Hux and in reaction to being scolded for it. Eventually Kylo just cleared his throat and glanced around, “Any idea where we are?”   
  
“Not a clue.”   
  
“Well I have a map in my pocket but I need a little while to get my bearings so…. do you want to go find a coffee shop to warm up in while I take a look?”   
  
“Sure. That would be great,” Hux replied, waiting for Kylo to begin moving before he did. He was silently questioning why Kylo had put his arms around him of all things - and also how the  _ child _ had had enough sense to realise that what he did wasn’t okay.

 

They walked in silence for the next few minutes, their only communication through the odd glance and pointing down different streets before they turned. Hux was okay with this, Kylo was a little more uncomfortable though. He liked talking, he liked verbal communication and he liked to know what people were thinking. Which - despite the fact she was friends with Hux - was why Phasma had come to grow on him little by little over the course of college.

 

Eventually Hux  _ actually _ spoke and his voice came out a little more distressed that Kylo had ever heard it, “IT’S FUCKING RAINING.”   
  
“Wha-” and then Kylo felt a big splot of rain hit his head and he cursed under his breath, “C’mon. Let’s find somewhere quickly,” he said before just grabbing Hux by the wrist and starting to march them more quickly down the street as bigger droplets of rain began pouring.

 

“KYLO I CAN WALK FINE BY MYSELF.”   
  
“YOU ARE NOT WALKING FAST ENOUGH OR COMMUNICATING WELL ENOUGH FOR US TO GET TO A CAFE QUICKLY!”    
  
“FUCK YOU.”   
  
“MAYBE LATER.”   
  
“FUCK OFF!” Hux yelled, trying to yank his hand away and failing as Kylo paused and glanced up at a sign.   
  
“That’s a coffee shop right?”   
  
“Yes that’s why it says fucking ‘cafe’ on the door sign you imbecile.”   
  
“Jeez no need to be so harsh,” Kylo muttered indignantly before pulling him inside and finally letting go of his arm.   
  
“Never grab a hold of me like that again - in fact, never touch me again,” Hux replied lividly before becoming incredibly nervous at the number of people who had turned around and started staring at them. He quickly muttered an apology for his rudeness to the rest of the cafe before walking over to the counter and beginning to order a drink for himself.   
  
“I didn’t know you spoke French.”   
  
“My mother was a linguist,” Hux replied before carrying on, starting to chat in a rather friendly way with the barista.   
  
“Can you order me something?” Kylo asked when there seemed to be a pause in the conversation.   
  
“Yeah, yeah, what do you want?” Hux asked, turning back to face Kylo and placing a hand on his chest before pushing him away, “Personal space. Do not stand so close to me.”   
  
“Please, it’s a small cafe.”   
  
“You still do not need to stand so close,” Hux replied, rolling his eyes a little, the boy clearly did not understand what he was fucking doing to him.   
  
“Alright, alright, I’ll have a coffee or something.”   
  
Hux nodded and turned around, finishing ordering and continuing to chat to the guy over the counter before mid-french, turning to Kylo and ordering him to choose a table to sit at.   
  
Kylo rolled his eyes a little. “Fine, I’ll leave you and your new boyfriend to chat.”   
  
Kylo chose the table beside the window of all things - he wasn’t really aware of the sort of romantic connotations this might have - or any of the suggestions that came along with grabbing coffee with someone. Honestly to him it was just a social thing you did which he didn’t because talking to Finn in class about comic books was about as social as he got. But what he did know was that if he sat by the window he could watch the rain run down it outside and that was something  _ he did like _ .

 

“Wow, nice view,” Hux drawled as he appeared with their coffees and some cake, “I figured you might be hungry. Now you owe me since I paid.”   
  
“Yeah, sure, whatever,” Kylo muttered dismissively as he followed the rain drops down the window with his gaze.   
  
“Wow, you take me to a coffee shop and now you’re going to ignore me to watch the rain outside like the sad fuck you are,” Hux muttered, only loud enough for Kylo to hear, but the guy heard it alright.   
  
“Get lost…” Kylo muttered, turning his nose up and looking away from the window, “Would you rather I just sat and fucking stared at you?”

 

“Not really no - your eye is starting to swell a little by the way.”   
  
“Well you punched me didn’t you?”

 

“Yes and for a very good reason,” Hux snorted before blowing over the top of his coffee, “Now get your map out and see if you can work out where we are. I do hope you can remember the names of the streets we went around.”   
  
“Of course I can,” Kylo replied, digging in his coat pocket before pulling out the map and moving their food and drink so that he could spread it out. “Okay then… let’s see…”   
  
Hux watched Kylo as he stared intensely at the map with a kind of focus he wasn’t used to seeing. He was actually surprised and maybe a little embarrassed when Kylo looked up at him and quirked an eyebrow. “Enjoying staring at my pretty face?”

 

“I enjoyed punching it a lot more.” Hux was blushing and he knew it but he chose not to acknowledge it.    
  
“Did you really?” 

 

“Mhmm, now find where we are on that damn map before I punch it again…”   
  
*   
  
Kylo did eventually find where they were on the map and just sat there looking smug while he sipped his coffee and ate his cake opposite Hux. “See! I’m a master map reader.”   
  
“Sure. Now drink your damn coffee so we can go,” the ginger replied, honestly considering going back over to the barista and talking to him instead. The rest of the people sat in the cafe were now muttering about them being on a date that had gone badly and Hux couldn’t be bothered to find it in himself to loudly correct them.

 

“Someone’s in a hurry.”   
  
“I don’t want the coffee that I paid for going cold.”   
  
“Jeez, I’ll pay you back later.”   
  
“Will you?”   
  
“Yes, with my love.”   
  
“As if.”

  
Kylo was about to spit something back when he noticed two faces suddenly press up against the cafe window. He turned to find Finn and Phasma stood there. Grinning. The woman wiggling her eyebrows suggestively while Finn just appeared to be laughing.   
  
“Looks like tweedledum and tweedledee just found us.” Kylo watched them both through the window before just sipping his coffee slowly and pointedly.   
  
“We should go out and see what they want-” Hux was cut off and Kylo reached out and pressed a finger to his lips to shush him.   
  
“If they want something they can come inside. I am warm here and I have not finished my coffee yet.”   
  
“Whatever,” Hux muttered before just getting up, grabbing his coat and going outside.


End file.
